


Group Photos

by NorthwesternInsanity



Category: Blue Oyster Cult, Music RPF
Genre: Jealousy, M/M, One sided, photo shoots are no fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-07 00:11:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15896952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorthwesternInsanity/pseuds/NorthwesternInsanity
Summary: A group photo during a shoot suggested by Sandy Pearlman for humorous purposes ends up being a little more to the main subjects of the picture -and leaves Joe Bouchard with a subtle ache in his heart for a certain small, innocent looking lead guitarist.





	Group Photos

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this! http://img2-ak.lst.fm/i/u/arO/78d1e43ec246412dc15395c70ba74286 That photo just screams plot bunnies, all of which are naughty to a degree.

The last shot of a grueling photoshoot was finally in sight for Blue Öyster Cult.

Sandy Pearlman stood in front of Allen, Albert, Joe, Buck, and Eric, assessing their positions from the previous shot, and trying to decide what they wanted to go for. They'd started out with a silly shot, just for amusement to kick the process of with. Eric jumping up on Buck and Albert, Allen standing like a vulture, one arm on Albert, and one on Joe. That had resolved to the serious picture of the lineup, and things had gone downhill in terms of what had gone smoothly. They wouldn't necessarily use every photo, but Sandy was determined that they needed one more to pick from.

He scanned back and forth over the group, thinking on what to do.

Eric stood to the side of Buck after having repositioned himself from the last shot. Mysterious as always behind his sunglasses and mass of curls, his arms curled in against his slim figure in a way that was almost sassy. He stood angled outward so his right shoulder made contact with Buck's left shoulder, and his left leg was out slightly forward, in close, almost wanting to cross over his right leg. Scratch sassy. If Eric had only been like that in the previous shot, they might have been able to produce a picture capable of attracting some girls. Sexy was more like it

Allen stood to the other far end, hand on his hip, leaning in on the side toward Albert. He didn't look so much sassy as he did like he was resisting nodding off. The sickly keyboard and guitar player's eyelids hung low over his eyes that looked down from the camera, and a cigarette dangled from his closed mouth -hiding the worst case of misaligned teeth the photographer had ever seen. That was courtesy of high, narrow cheekbones and a very angular, slim jaw -all making for a small and overcrowded mouth even with his wisdom teeth long since pulled out. It looked as though somebody had halfway knocked Allen's front four top teeth to point inward, then allowed his incisors to grow in overlapping them.

Usually, Allen didn't feel too self-conscious about his malocclusion -that was, until a photographer decided to make a big to do about it. This one had, and as soon as nasty remarks came about showing off his biggest imperfection to the world in every capture, Allen hated it. He'd managed to do okay in one picture, and then it became non-stop griping toward him. Even worse, this photographer had gotten Sandy going too. In these cases, he either had to take on the most awkward positions and expressions to hide it and shut them up, or ignore them as best as he could. This time, they had been especially obnoxious. Allen had held his patience as long as he could, but by now he was fed up. That meant taking the former of the two options and staring away miserably, waiting for the torture to be over with.

Albert stood, chest toward the point of Allen's elbow, back turned to his brother, Buck, and Eric. He cast a glance over his shoulder toward them, placing his left wrist on his hip so it lined up with Joe's back. He was told to keep a serious face, but in typical Albert Bouchard attitude, that wasn't happening. He'd bargained with the stubborn photographer to flaunt an impish smirk at the very least through all their formal pictures. After a few minutes of back and forth arguing and Sandy getting annoyed, the photographer decided that Albert's mustache hid just enough expression so the smirk didn't interfere with the goal of the picture. He even reluctantly admitted that it complimented the sassy stance Albert had taken, and was to stay.

Joe stood angled inward toward Buck. He crossed his muscular and toned arms across his wide, athletic chest -which was uncovered beneath Joe's jacket. His left knee -the one closer to Buck -slightly bent, and wore the softest beginning of a smile on his face. It was barely there -just a subtle curl of his lips. 

Beside him, Buck stood -shortest of them all. He too, had a light smile. It was mostly hidden under a mustache like Albert's, but had the gentle innocence of Joe's -and complimented more so by Buck's wide, expressive eyes. Buck looked content, in general, but his eyes had just the slightest hint of sadness to them. More boredom, really. He was being patient and wouldn't complain, but he was visibly getting worn out by the shoot that had dragged on much longer than usual.

"We need another picture with some of you roughhousing like usual," Sandy piped up, making his decision. "Except this time, I want something different than we usually go for -still less serious, but less silly than you all usually go for like what we did to start with." 

He pointed straight ahead, his finger's aim landing right on Joe.

"Hey, Joe, you're the strong one."

"And?" asked Joe.

It was true -Joe was very muscular in form -broad shoulders and a tight, toned chest. 

"Try turning so you're facing Buck straight on rather than angled in toward each other. Buck, you too -turn and face Joe straight on. Everyone else hold still where you are," ordered Sandy. "Allen, keep your teeth covered still, as with all the other shots. We don't want to show those off this time."

Allen rolled his eyes beneath his heavy lids, resisting the urge to pull away and walk out of the room.

Buck and Joe followed instruction. It wasn't looking like a bad shot already -and while Joe's facial features weren't unattractive, they certainly weren't the most handsome. He had a fleshy snub nose, a flat and square chin like a bull dog, and chubby cheeks. They weren't the baby-faced type either. Instead, they drooped a bit, creating two sharp lines on either side of Joe's nose and exacerbated the pudge in a way that resembled a chipmunk as he smiled. Sometimes, his lower eyelids puffed with his smile too.

In profile though, Joe looked as though he could at least tie with Buck and Eric for being the best looking of them. Once Joe turned sideways, his muscular figure seemed to stand out better with the curvature of his back and the view of his chest and shoulder conformity. His shorter, dark, thick and fluffy hair framed his cheeks just enough to soften them out, and instead along with his eyes gave his face a very curious and tender expression as he faced Buck and tilted his head to the side ever so slightly.

"Nice, Joe, that's perfect. Hold it like that for a second -Buck, fluff your bangs forward.

Buck reached up, a hint of questioning flashing through his eyes and his brow furrowing. In close proximity, Joe couldn't help but notice the innocence of Buck's features. His eyes were soft and doe-like, and even more softened with the rounded tips of the fringe resting on the outer reaches of Buck's eyebrows. He knew Buck kept his mustache grown out to look older -but this close, it was easy to see just how baby-faced he was even with it.

There was, however, a deep maturity to Buck as he finished fixing his fringe and dropped his hands down to rest on his hips, continuing to look up to Joe with confusion. His furrowed eyebrows seemed to be a path into his eyes and to a mysterious and wise, creative force within him that could be the only explanation for some of the song themes Buck could come up with. It was intriguing to Joe. Somewhat attractive.

The way Buck looked up to Joe between innocence and maturity, and Joe's soft expression intrigued Sandy too. He got an idea.

Before he could speak, the photographer looked over at Allen and cringed. 

"Is there a way you can keep your eyes off the camera without looking like you're having a stroke?" he asked snidely.

A wordless answer, Allen exhaled through his nose so forcefully that his thin nostrils flared, and cigarette smoke emerged, comically highlighting his displeasure. Thankfully, the photographer got the message this time and didn't say anything further, but that didn't keep Allen from cursing the fact that Sandy would know better and see through his lie if he tried to call the 'I gotta go take a leak' card as an escape route.

"Just hang tight a few more minutes," Albert whispered impishly. "Fighting him only means it takes longer. I think you'll survive though."

"I know," Allen growled darkly, barely parting his lips to get the words out. Inwardly, he was bitterly stewing about how Albert could win fighting the photographer, but he couldn't.

"If you're going to take that pose, make it look like it's on purpose," ordered Sandy.

Allen didn't even respond this time, just held still and silent.

"Alright, he's gone catatonic; so what he have is as good as we can get there. Just ignore him," decided Sandy. "However, let me see that crate you brought -Joe, I want to have it look like you're lifting Buck up."

Albert snorted, chuckling aloud. "What for?"

"I think it'll look alright, and that's just it. No discussion," Sandy scolded, dragging over the crate. "You stay like you were." He motioned for Buck to hop up on the crate, and taking Joe's hand for an extra boost, Buck climbed up on it. It reached his knees, practically -but with Buck's height, they weren't hard to get to.

Buck resumed his hands on hip position, and under Sandy's instructions via hand motion, Joe put his hands against Buck's sides under his arms, then bent his knees slightly and pushed his arms up, trying to make it look like he was really lifting.

Sandy then motioned for Eric to scoot in closer to compensate for the shift in position with Buck being up higher, but resume his perfect pose. He started to stand back and get a look and determine if they were ready to go.

Absentmindedly, Joe continued to push under Buck's arms, trying to make it look as though he were realistically picking him up. He startled then and snapped back to reality as Buck's hands suddenly reached out to grab onto Joe's shoulders and he made a small noise. Buck's wide eyes met Joe's-they weren't so much uncomfortable or worried as they were simply filled in with surprise -then shifted down to the floor.

Joe looked down too, and lessened the degree of his upward push immediately, realizing he'd managed to lift Buck a good six inches off the crate without even noticing he had. He was so small and light that it hadn't taken any effort at all. 

There was something indescribably endearing about that. Joe felt his heart flutter and a light dizziness in his head.

Buck's toes made contact with the crate again, and his eyes met Joe's. A tint of pink flashed across both of their faces, and in each other's eyes, they could both tell they were hoping in common that nobody else noticed. However, he continued to hold on tightly to Joe, body pressed in tightly against him too.

"No, that was good," said Sandy. "Let's do away with that crate if you can handle lifting him Joe -that way it's more realistic. Just kick it aside. But Buck, get your hands off of Joe's shoulders and let them hang free -we're not trying to look too touchy-feely here."

Buck placed his arms down, blushing deeper at Sandy's comment.

"I think he just got nervous because he wasn't expecting to get lifted up," argued Albert with a snort. "Joey, you'd better lighten up there -next thing you're gonna be knocking us all down and breaking things-"

"Albert, you shut your trap!" Joe ordered darkly. "Just remember that I had to remind you to dress normal like Sandy told you to for this shoot-"

"Boys, boys... That's enough." Sandy stood with his hands on his hips waiting while the photographer glared impatiently.

Joe sighed and looked back toward Buck. Buck kept his arms down at his sides, and as Joe prepared to lift him again, he spontaneously broke out into a fit of soft giggling.

"Serious is better," ordered the photographer.

"Buck, pull yourself together," warned Sandy.

Buck drew in a sharp breath through his nose, bit his lip, and tried to stop. His eyes met Joe's again, and Joe could have feared his heart was melting at the pained look in Buck's eyes as he held back. He had to fight painfully to keep from laughing too, tickled to death by the situation he'd somehow landed in.

"Joe, don't you start," warned Sandy.

With a loud snort through his nose, Buck's laughter broke through.

_"Donald Roeser!"_ Sandy scolded. "That's enough! It's one thing when Albert comes in here lipping off during a shoot and when Allen gets himself wound up in a tizzy. If this keeps up, I'm going to scrap this one and make you all get into another formation from scratch."

Buck's smile vanished. It was heartbreaking as all the sweet and amused, innocent light in his eyes became clouded over with shame. Joe wanted to break formation and hug him.

Instead, he picked Buck up again, pushing up gently, resuming his soft expression, awestruck with how quickly the demeanor had changed. Much to his relief, when he picked Buck up, the shame vanished, and the sweet expression in his eyes reappeared. He did visibly bite the inside of his lip to keep from laughing again. What was beyond Joe was just how gently and soundly Buck rested against him even with his arms down.

Sandy took in Joe's figure. Pushing up tensed his muscles, maximizing the good qualities of his figure, and he wasn't straining in a way to ruin it. Buck held a straight face, but also pushed his body tightly against Joe's chest.

_Perfect._

He signaled, and the camera snapped. As it did, Joe and Buck held steady in each other's gazes to keep serious, but it almost looked like there was more to it than that -some connection between the two.

"Alright, that's good -I've got it," announced the photographer. "Break this formation. Is that the last one you requested, Pearlman?"

Sandy nodded. "Yeah, I think we're done on this one."

Allen all but leapt away from the screen. Then he turned on his heels and walked out of the room, shoulders thrust back in a posture of annoyance. It would be a few minutes before anyone would dare go after him when he was that pissed off.

"Who's going to go get him?" asked Albert. It wasn't hard to figure out with the trepidation in his voice that he didn't want to be that guy this time, nor would he.

Eric shook his head and snorted. "Not me. Just leave him alone and let him do what he wants -he'll get over it in about an hour or so. Probably'll curl up in some corner with a book and just as pleased with himself as he could be."

"Eric, you said we were going to meet up and jam at my place?"

Eric shrugged. "Well, I was thinking a little later, but after this shoot, I know I feel like pulling out a guitar, so we can go now if you want."

Buck nodded eagerly, walking toward Eric

"Looks like you're going to go get Allen this time, Joey," Albert snorted.

Joe held up a finger, starting to turn around and get into a snide remark match that was so common to have between himself and his older brother, but stopped at the soft, quiet voice behind him.

"Did you want me to go check for him real quick?" Buck stopped in his tracks, turning around. The look of concern on his face was so sweet, and Joe didn't have the heart.

"No, Buck, that's okay. I'll make sure he's alright if he doesn't come out in fifteen or so."

"Alright. You sure?"

"Yeah, you go on ahead," said Joe, feeling a strange sensation in his stomach and heat in his cheeks as the small guitarist turned and ran across the room to catch up with Eric.

Then Eric held out his arm, motioning for Buck to come along, and Buck got up to Eric's side as they walked out of the doorway. As Buck got in close, Eric affectionately put his arm snugly around him so that Buck leaned in.

And as he watched, Joe couldn't help but wish he could still have Buck in his arms, held against himself the way Eric had him now.


End file.
